What is a movement? 12 marks

If you hang around me long enough, you know I'm fond of talking about Missio Dei as a movement. But what exactly IS a movement? How is it different from what others may be doing? And why is this distinction important? 

Recently a pastor friend challenged me with those questions, and this was my response. I drew it from my study of revivals and awakenings, going back to the first Great Awakening of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield and the Wesleys; the Haystack Revival; the Welsh Revival; the Student Volunteer Movement; the work of men like D.L. Moody and Billy Graham; and modern movements ranging from Vineyard and Calvary Chapel to Sovereign Grace, Redeemer, and Acts 29. Part of this draws on a talk I heard Mark Driscoll give at an Acts29 Boot Camp in Raleigh in Feb 09. 

So is Missio Dei a movement? Not yet. But I think we're heading in the right direction. You should also know that I'm personally uncomfortable with #11, but it seems impossible to ignore when you look at history. 

1. It’s an extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit of God upon a praying people. It is inherently something beyond the normal workings of God, and well beyond man’s ability to create.

 

2. It’s characterized by extraordinary events and transformations: the renewal of an apathetic, dry church; resulting in many conversions of people within and without the visible church.

 

3. It is unusual in its degree and scope. It breaks down human distinctions which are not biblical and which have impeded Kingdom expansion (ie, the convergence of charismatic theology with the Reformed world in recent years).

 

4. It actively seeks to NOT become institutionalized. When it becomes institutionalized, it loses a great deal of momentum.

 

5. It is discerning about the essentials--those things which must be agreed on or maintained (closed hand), and which are non essentials—those things not necessary to agree on (open hand). There is unity in diversity.

 

6. It CAN work in concert with institutions, to renew and expand them.

 

7. It is a recovery of sound theology and practices—what are not new, but seem that way to those experiencing them.

 

8. It is messy around the edges—and sometimes at the middle. It attracts bad theology, bad practices, and unstable people.

 

9. A movement generates a lot of discussion, both within and without the movement. Some of it is healthy; much of it is gossip and speculation and criticism. But it cannot be ignored.

 

10. It takes hits on both sides. From secular leaning folks, and from the religious establishment. The bad apples are used by skeptics to discredit the entire movement.

 

11. It is frequently spearheaded by a particularly charismatic or larger-than-life leader who seems to be anointed for the task. These leaders are lavished with praise by their followers, but are frequently unfairly criticized and undergo great suffering and temptation.

 

12. It leaves lasting changes in those impacted by it: individuals, families, churches, communities, and even cultures are never the same.